Posts Tagged ‘The Blind Pig’

Back in the 1920’s, there were a multitude of illegal bars operating, due to increased licensing costs. These bars were called Speakeasy’s. A Speakeasy establishment was apparently “high-class”, where I imagine the women wore flapper dresses and the men wore tuxedos and top hats… sigh.

The “lower class” version of a Speakeasy was called “The Blind Pig”. Ironic, really, that there is a place in Glasgow’s pretentious West End, which dons that very name. Irene and I went a few weeks ago, to get the “Afternoon Tea for Two”: The Blind Pig’s Cake Stand stacked with a selection of bespoke Dainty Sandwiches, Chef’s Homemade Scones with lashings of Jam & Clotted Cream and our fabulous assortment of cakes.

Of course, we made ours an alcoholic “tea” for two; served in a gorgeous Hendricks teapot and poured into matching tea cups! We got a deal through Living Social, which was £14 for two (instead of £22).

We were greeted with friendly smiles and told to pick any seat we wanted (there were hardly any people there!), so I opted for a seat in the corner that would allow me to take photos and not feel like some kind of food pervert. We told the waiter-cum-barman what we wanted as we made our way to our seats.

It was a pretty long wait considering it was so quiet, but he did apologise and said the kitchen next door (in their main restaurant) was mobbed and they didn’t have a minute. He presented us with our cake stand:

Half the sandwiches contained smoked salmon; the other half contained salad. I’m not a fan of smoked salmon and can’t comprehend a sandwich without some kind of meat in it, so I nibbled at them huffily and eyed up the cakes.

I think this was carrot cake – it was the nicest of the three, if a little dry!

This is the Chef’s Homemade Scones with lashings of Jam & Clotted Cream. It takes joint 1st place alongside my first attempt at shortbread (the competition being “most likely to be used as an offensive weapon when flung at someones head”).

These little cakes were tasty enough, although they did have a bit of a staleness about them unfortunately 😦

The cakes and sandwiches, to me, were a bit of a disappointment. Irene and I had been looking forward to this wee day out for a while, so it was a bit of an anti-climax… until…

This was delicious, and lethal to boot!! Definitely worth the £7 each as we got two cups full each (although theres no way I’d pay the full £22 for the package!).

Maybe we happened to catch The Blind Pig on an off-day with their Cake Stand, as I’ve heard so many good things about them. The whole “cake stand & teapot cocktail” craze is all over Glasgow at the moment, and although many places are passionate about quality, I suspect others might be guilty of cashing in by jumping on the bandwagon half-heartedly.

At the end of the day, if I wanted to eat some solid scones I would have made them myself! I’d go there again for the cocktails though! 😉

It has, however, made me want to buy a wee cake stand and have the girls round for some dainty sandwiches and cakes! Join me, wont you? 🙂 x